Man, she’s adorable.
“Thank you for putting your best feet forward, for working so well together, and for just the most fun ride we’ve had at New Horizon Events,” Virginia said.
“If we had champagne flutes, we’d toast to you. So we’ll just say, thank you so much, and let’s finish strong on Thursday!” Sophie raised her hands to a roaring applause.
For such a pieced-together experience, with each team mostly working separately except for with Virginia and Sophie, there was a strong comradery in the room. Levi watched the others laugh and mingle, even hug. He hadn’t really mixed with the other teams because of his Tutto Mangiare work, but those whom he had met he had liked, and he knew that everything Virginia and Sophie had said was genuine and heart-felt.
Distracted by watching Marie Rhodes as she watched all of the affection being exchanged, he hadn’t even noticed that Virginia was watching him. When he caught her eye, Levi delivered a wink and a wide smile that let her know, Great job, and I’m rooting for you.
“Mr. Adams.”
Levi jumped slightly at the calling of his name from such a sharp tone. Ms. Rhodes was suddenly behind him, requesting his presence. He turned around to face her.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Rhodes, I didn’t see you there.” His charm came on like a light switch flipping to brighten a dark room. “What can I do for you?”
“I’d like to see you and Ms. Sharpe in my office tomorrow morning, eight a.m., on the dot.” Her head didn’t so much nod as it was just a part of the sentence, taking out the guesswork as to whether or not Levi had a choice in the matter. She stalked off before Levi could answer, but he knew he didn’t have to. He would be in Ms. Rhodes’ office in the hotel at eight a.m. the following morning. Probably seven-fifty-eight, just to be safe.
“Levi,” he heard, again from behind, but this time in a much gentler tone. He spun to see Virginia’s deep hazel beauties looking right at him. She had a light smirk on her face. “Sorry to keep you spinning. I didn’t know Ms. Rhodes was going to tell you about the meeting, I thought she had asked me to let you know.”
“I don’t think she likes other people completing her tasks for her,” he said, shaking his head and rocking back on his heels. His hands were in his pockets, cool and comfortable as usual. “Do you know what she wants to see us about?”
“Not a clue. You?”
“Same.”
In a rare moment of awkward silence, Levi knew Virginia was wondering the same as he: had Ms. Marie Rhodes found out that they had a little thing—even though no one in their right mind would classify one small kiss as a thing—and she was going to be upset? Or she was upset but isn’t anymore? For being Ms. Marie Rhodes, she seemed all-together pleasant this afternoon.
Doubt clouded her expressive eyes. “Well, Sophie and I are having a pre-celebratory dinner. We have reservations in half an hour. I’ll see you in the morning.” She couldn’t have ducked out faster if she were on fire.
They would be fine, he was sure of it. She had nothing to worry about, which is exactly what he texted her later that evening. He was met with radio silence, though, and didn’t communicate again with her until the morning.
At seven-fifty, both Levi and Virginia were sitting outside Ms. Marie Rhodes’ office door, waiting for word from her assistant that they could go into her office. Levi had been in plenty of hotel office suites, but this one felt stuffier as the two waited out their fate. He and Virginia had exchanged pleasantries, but he had sensed Virginia’s apprehension. As part of his commitment to giving her what she needed, he decided that this morning, what she needed was space.
Levi couldn’t figure out if Ms. Rhodes’ decision to make them wait until eight-fifteen was in line with, or completely out of, character for her. On the one hand, she liked to be in control and could therefore be reasonably expected to make her legions wait. On the other hand, Ms. Marie Rhodes valued timeliness above almost all else. Maybe that was only when the timeliness catered to her.
No mind, she swung open her office door and welcomed Virginia and Levi in with an affixed, plastic smile.
“Levi. Virginia. Thank you for making it this morning. How are you?”
“Well, thank you,” Virginia answered, forced lightness in her tone. Levi’s, as well.
“Well, let’s get down to business. I know you two have a lot to do.” She straightened her desk calendar, moving the clear, overlying piece a millimeter to the left. “So,” she began, the plastic smile returning. “You two—as well as Sophie, Seth, and Kelsey—have put in an extraordinary amount of work these last six months. The other teams have, as well, but what people remember about a Gala is what they wore, what the ballroom looked like, what the music sounded like, and what the food tasted like. I can’t very well make the DJ attend as a guest, now can I? The five of you, you are to attend the Jackson Gala as guests.”
Levi felt Virginia still beside him, so he spoke for the both of them. “That’s kind of you, Ms. Rhodes, but who will run our portions of the event? We couldn’t possibly abandon our teams on the night of the Gala.”
“Hush. I will not allow you to not enjoy this evening. That’s what we have workers for, to do the dirty work we don’t want to do. You trust them, I trust them. You have led them well. Let them do their jobs.”
Marie had shuffled her papers around her desk before giving the pair a look that asked, Anything else?
“With all due respect, Ms. Rhodes, that’s now how we feel about our teams. I know I don’t, and I don’t think Levi does, either. We like doing the dirty work with our people.” Levi could hear the shake in her voice, but he prayed Ms. Rhodes could not. It helped that she could not see Virginia’s hands under the desk, fiddling and fidgeting, trying to find their calm space.
Ms. Marie Rhodes looked the opposite of nervous. She looked bored and exasperated of the conversation.
“Fine. You can blame me. But you are to be guests at the party. You are to be available for interviews. You are to be there, dressed appropriately, and having a good time. That’s what a party is for, is it not?” Her brashness had gone nowhere.
“I didn’t bring a gown, Ms. Rhodes. I wasn’t expecting this.”
“And my tux is certainly not Gala ready.”
“Not to worry,” Ms. Rhodes said. She shut the folder sitting open in front of her. “Levi: you, Seth, and Kelsey bring your items to me and I will have them taken care of overnight.” She turned to look at Virginia. “Virginia: you and Sophie please be back here at noon today. You will each choose a gown and I will have that also taken care of overnight.”
Virginia began to raise her voice in protest once again, but Ms. Rhodes’ serious expression stopped her. Levi lightly touched Virginia’s feet with his. Virginia deflated.
Again Ms. Rhodes gave a look that asked, without saying the words, if Levi or Virginia needed anything else. “We are done here. Thank you for coming in this morning. See you—“ she pointed at Virginia, “in less than four hours. And Levi, please bring your, Seth’s, and Kelsey’s items before four p.m.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Levi said, standing. “My pleasure.” He touched Virginia’s shoulder in an invitation to join him. She did, and the two walked to the ballroom in silence. Once inside, with the doors closed, Levi took the brunt of everything Virginia hadn’t said in Ms. Rhodes’ office.
“Interviews? Like, for journalists who will put my name and everything I say in a publication?”
Levi nodded cautiously.
“And a gown? She’s just going to—” she snapped her fingers, “find me one and have it tailored overnight?”
“I guess so,” Levi said, cautiously but with an encouraging flavor to his words. “You and Kelsey look about the same size. Want me to see if she has anything you like?”
Virginia looked at him blankly, then suddenly answered, “Yes, please!” She bit her thumbnail before adding, “For me and for Sophie.”
“You got it,” Levi said, immediately sending Kelsey a text
message.
“Going to the Gala as a guest? That’s ridiculous. That is completely against protocol.” She was pacing. He thought he even saw sweat forming at her hairline.
“I think Ms. Rhodes only cares about protocol when it benefits her,” he said. “It’s okay. Our teams are amazing. I was planning to be the one cooking one of the main dishes, and Seth was cooking the chocolate mousse, so we’ll have to rearrange those.” Levi thought through his new needs for a moment. “But it’s totally doable.”
Virginia continued pacing. On a pass by him, Levi gently grabbed her by shoulders and turned her to face him. “It will be okay. Can you trust me? You’ve dealt with crazier curveballs, I am sure. Show Ms. Marie Rhodes that you can do this, finish strong.”
She regarded him for a long moment. A moment filled with thoughts he couldn’t decipher, as they remained hidden behind her panicked eyes. At last, though, she conceded.
“Okay,” she said. Levi smiled at her resolve. “Okay. You’re right. I can do this.” She looked up at him and he swore he saw a flicker of affection mixed with hope. “I need to go find Sophie.” And with that, she was off.
Watching her go, a determined woman who did nothing less than a thousand percent, he knew one thing to be true: now that they were guests, likely sitting at the same table, it would be nearly impossible for Virginia to stay away from him at the Gala. Instead of working it and making her way into every nook and cranny to make sure it all had been executed with precision, she would be his de facto date. For that reason, no matter the disasters that may come in the next four days, the grin covering Levi’s face would remain firmly in place.
Chapter 23
“Are you sure this works, Soph?”
Virginia heard a sigh from the other side of the bathroom door as she scrambled out of the gown Kelsey had so generously let her borrow. It fit like a glove, but it also felt a little too Cinderella-at-the-ball.
“For the thousandth time, it looks made for you. You look like a princess ready for the ball.”
Virginia snickered as she came out of their shared bathroom; of course her best friend had put words to the thoughts Virginia had not said aloud.
Comfortable again in her dark skinny jeans and a long, hunter green tunic, Virginia hung up the dress on the right side of the closet she and Sophie had lived out of for the last six months. Her long gold necklace dangled a circle over her stomach and was still swaying side to side from her hasty dress-and-redress operation a moment ago.
“Lucky we’re all around the same size. And lucky Kelsey doesn’t mind mine being fake-hemmed for the night,” Sophie said, admiring her own gown, hanging on the far left of the closet.
Virginia took a tired seat in the plush recliner in the corner near the window. She let out a long, slow sigh before looking out the window.
How long this road has been, but how worth it. Tomorrow, her and Sophie’s company’s name would be tied to the fanciest affair of the year in one of the biggest cities in the world. Of all the things in life she couldn’t believe—the numerous Elvis conspiracies, why anyone enjoyed chicken pot pie—the fact that she and Sophie were at the wheel, steering the Jackson Gala ship, was right up there.
As her head rested on her knees, Virginia’s daydream brought a highlight reel of the last six months. Meeting new friends, being introduced by Marie Rhodes during the meet-and-greet, discovering that Levi was the executive chef for the Gala, that colorful wall of gerbera daisies, approving Levi’s second menu draft, running through Manhattan most mornings, the menu tasting meeting with Levi, meeting Levi’s family, and watching the seasons change from warm to hot to chilly to downright cold. And snowy.
Actually, speaking of snowy…
“Soph,” Virginia said, trepidation starting in her voice as she sat up and leaned toward the window, as though she could see the sudden squall better from six inches closer.
“What’s up?” Sophie walked over to her. “Oh, wow, it’s really snowing.” She paused for a moment as she watched the whitewall out their window. “That came on quick.”
“Turn on the weather channel,” Virginia said, suddenly panicked. “When we checked last night there was only a twenty percent chance of snow, and even that was just for a dusting. Now the world’s largest flour sack is falling from the sky.”
Sophie clicked through the channels from where she had ended up last night—the Hallmark channel of course, watching one of their fifty gloriously romantic Christmas movies—to the weather channel. For Virginia, she couldn’t get there fast enough.
“—Unexpected storm so strong they’ve actually named it.”
“WHAT!?” Virginia and Sophie exclaimed simultaneously. And then they watched and listened in horror as the weatherman so cruelly showed the path of the Nor’easter now heading toward the city.
“As of five p.m. yesterday, this storm was nowhere in sight. What we think happened is…” the rest of his report was drowned by Virginia’s light tears and Sophie’s pacing and talking aloud to herself, wondering how in the world this had happened and if they could have predicted it. They remained in the thick of their panic until Virginia’s phone dinged. A text from her mom.
Big storm headed your way. You girls okay?
Yes, but nervous for the Gala.
The show will go on no matter what, but please stay safe. Love, your Mama xoxo
Virginia shook her head quickly. She jumped up and down twice, and felt ready for action. She stopped Sophie’s pacing by standing in front of her and gently grabbing hold of her arm. “Soph. Snap out of it,” she said, wasting no time. “Let’s look at its path, then decide if there will be anything or anyone coming in tonight or tomorrow morning who might be affected.”
Sophie looked at Virginia like she had three heads, but only for a moment. “Okay,” she said, nodding her head. “Let’s do this. Remember that huge storm that almost rocked the Tucker wedding? We plowed right through that baby. We can do this. No panicking.” She pumped her fist9.
“There’s my girl.”
Intently, Virginia and Sophie watched the news and made notes on Nor’easter Abbey’s path. They worked in tandem, cross-checking each other’s information to make sure that all together it gave a complete picture. They then cross referenced it with their Gala notes, learning who would struggle to arrive in the city over the next twenty-four hours.
As it turns out, half of the catering team, the entire audio-visual team, and the dee-jay were the winners, meaning twenty people absolutely essential to carrying out the 2019 Jackson Christmas Gala were directly impacted. Not to mention any guests who were coming by way of any plane, train, or automobile that had to travel from anywhere between Michigan to Maine.
Well, maybe they could panic a little.
Immediately Virginia and Sophie made their way down to Ms. Marie Rhodes’ office to see if she was tracking what they were tracking. They had not brought her any snafus thus far, but this was a monster that needed more than two people to control it. With portfolios and contact information in tow, they landed at her office in a rush. Virginia was about to knock on the closed door when suddenly Levi opened it, laughing with Ms. Rhodes.
“Oh, hey, Virginia and Sophie.”
“Hey, Levi,” Virginia said quickly. Sophie followed suit.
“What’s the matter? You two seem stressed. I thought we were all feeling great about tomorrow.” Genuine concern and interest highlighted his baby blues.
“We were, until we looked out the window. Excuse me,” Virginia said, scooting past Levi so she could speak with Ms. Rhodes.
“Oh, hello, Virginia, I wasn’t expecting you.”
Virginia shook her head. “I’m sorry to surprise you, but we have an issue that we will need all hands on deck for.” Firmly, but as professionally as she knew how to be, Virginia showed Ms. Rhodes her notes about Nor’easter Abbey’s path, the twenty staffers who would have trouble getting here tonight and tomorrow, and the guests would who be good to arrive an hour l
ate, let alone on time, should the snow keep up as projected.
There’s a first time for everything. That’s what Virginia thought as she saw Ms. Rhodes’ eyes cloud over and the smooth spot between her eyebrows crease. Worry descended on Ms. Rhodes’ sharp features, and it did not settle well with Virginia.
“Do you two have a plan for how to address this? And urgently?” Her voice was taut, not used to such a large obstacle standing in her way.
“The snow is falling steadily, but according to the map there will be a slight break at five p.m. That’s five hours from now. There are currently no delays for the train, and only slight delays at the airports. If we could get our staff here by five, then work on arrangements for the guests, I think we’ll be okay.”
“What do you mean, arrangements for the guests? They have paid a pretty price to attend a smooth-sailing Jackson Gala. We will not burden them with changing their plans.”
Virginia looked at Sophie, catching Levi’s eye behind her. Sophie gave a slight nod, encouraging her to go forward with the plan the two had discussed.
“Here’s what we’re thinking…” Virginia laid out the plan she and Sophie had thought of up in their room just twenty minutes ago. It would cost some money, but it added an unexpected sentimental charm to an already nostalgic evening.
After a thorough but short spiel, Virginia and Sophie could tell they had won over Ms. Rhodes. And after she made a few calls to seal the deal, Virginia and Sophie could get to work. It would take the rest of the night to call as many people as they had to call, but it could be done. And if it could be done, Virginia would make sure it would be done.
Behind the Scenes Page 20